After visiting Artisan Square and Wren Boutique, miss T and I headed to the lagoon to snack on some overripe cherries; and than tried to make our way to Kilarnay Lake. We got lost on our way and wandered in the forest for much longer than the route was supposed to take - made a big detour and instead of the lake found ourselves in a beautiful meadow with a horse riding arena. The air was filled with a thick scent of coumarin. Rich, enveloping nutty goodness from unidentified wild grasses. Pure pleasure, which stopped us in our tracks for a nice resting time while writing in our little pocket journals... Laying on the grass, of course.

From than, we walked on towards the lake (still hoping) and instead encountered a beautiful grove of pale birch trees immersed in murky pond water, dotted with skank cabages and the like.
From then on, the lake was all too far away, at least if we were to eat any dinner that day and make it back home before the last ferry boat to Horseshoe Bay.

So we marched back towards Snugg Cove; and spotted a trio of unafraid deer roaming by the highway. What a lovely bunch! They let me get pretty close to them, and didn't quite run away. Are they becoming domesticated?!

As we were approaching the main street of "downtown Bowen" an inexplicably beautiful, rich, strange yet familiar smell wafted in the air. It was just by the atelier of a metal and wood worker Stacy Beamer. At first I was sure it must have something to do with all the wood and the fire... But a quick glance at the garden surrounding the atelier revealed it was the hemlock and cedar chips and needles lining the beds (why, of mint of course!). And there were also those gorgeous red-painted dead rhododendrons, which got only one living branch that sprouted a few leaves. They look like earthly corals!

I lingered for so long that even the artist at work noticed me among all the sparks and metal and noise around him; and came out to chat with me. It was the very same scent that greets you in Stanley Park in late summer and early fall: resinous, chypre scent of amber and sappy sweetness and hints of moss and dry cedar. The most gorgeous naturally-occurring perfume you can find on the Pacific Northwest. Now that I finally confirmed the source, I'm determined to bottle this up - there is nothing quite like it. I was fondling handfuls of this fragrant garden-lining and taking deep sniffs for about 10 times, taking breaks only because I wanted to minimize the olfactory fatigue, and get the full-strength of this beauty.

We had just enough time to stop at the Italian restaurant for potato, rosemary & sage pizza and delicious pear salad and Kir Royale (a dangerous mistake which resulted in a lost umbrella, and nearly cost me my an unwanted return trip to Bowen Island). We got back home way too late and with a renewed British Columbian excitement about getting out of the city a little more often...

The last stop before heading back to Oakland (and continuing a vigorous packing of the 40 essential oils I left behind on my last trip... Oy vey) was one of my most favourite suppliers ever, whom I always dreamed of visiting: Eden Botanicals. I don't usually disclose my suppliers, but I am making a huge exception here because I've been working with them for so long that I feel like I'm part of their team in some ways too (you'll understand why in a moment).

Eden Botanicals recently moved from their rural Northern California location up in Hymapom, closer to civilization to the town of Petalum in Sonoma County (just under an hour drive from San Francisco).

They were located in a quiet street in a several story-high house that looked like an essential oil mansion, or a castle to me. And for a warehouse that stores tens of essential oils in substantial quantities, the scent was not in the least overwhelming, but pleasant and aromatic and wonderful. Just like walking into a larger version of my tiny studio space when I just open all the boxes where I store my vast of oils stashed away from heat and light.

It was wonderful to connect in person with the people who import top-quality essential oils and absolutes from around the world (as well as other accessories for aromatherapists and perfumers - anything from carrier oils to scent-strips, which, by the way, I was out of and they managed to ship speedily over to Lisa's house so that I can have them for the weekend's many scent events!). I've been working with Eden Botanicals for years, both as my supplier, but also helping them out in writing the ad copy to some of the essential oils they bring from around the world. It's a mammoth project, which is very unlikely to ever end, as they always bring new things and we always tried to keep the descriptions accurate for slight variations between batches.

Eden Botanicals has grown throughout the years but is still a very small, personable company, which includes the new owner, Josh, Kyanne, Mollie and their aromatherpist Julia (the last two are shown in the picture above). They are still planning to move to a different location within Petaluma, and Josh has many exciting plans for this new locations which I can hardly wait to tell you - but will just have to wait till I see and smell them myself.



When showing them my new "Oy de Cologne" Julia told me she was Jewish too and pulled out this interesting essential oil display shaped like a Menorah from AvAroma (Avraham Sand's company in Israel), carrying the "Ketoret" (incense) oils: Costus, saffron, myrrh, frankincense, balsam, galbanum, spikenard, cassia, cloves and more.



I came with a very specific shopping list in mind (great way to "get rid of" foreign cash, by the way!) and only strayed from it with one ingredients - the new arrival: Osmanthus absolute. It was great that I did, because I completely ran out and the only other sources I have were both extremely expensive and not all the great of a quality. This osmanthus, like most of the essences they scout, is exceptional. This flower, redolent of apricot and leather is still dark and mysterious, but it feels as if there is a ray of light coming through it. There is a quality that I find hard time to truly describe and pinpoint, but is there in all good quality oils: they are vibrant, and feel alive and full of action, as if they are still a living thing. And that's exactly what I'm looking for, and is always worth all the extra costs and effort to find.

I smelled and received a few samples of other exciting new arrivals, including coffee bean essential oil, organic peppermint oil, Somalian frankincense (Boswellia frereana), organic fresh ginger root oil and organic Ylang Ylang. If these do not sound all that exotic, know that when a plant is grown, harvested and distilled/extracted with care, the result is exceptional and inspiring. As is the case with all of these oils.

Last but not least: Eden Botanicals now accept international orders! That's also great news for Canadians, who could now order directly from the website, rather than call in with their order. Yay!

It's been quite an eventful week in San Francisco and I have just returned last night, and still have a lot to catch up with (uploading photos to Flickr being one of them). I have more to tell you than I have air in my lungs at the moment - so much happened, so many wonderful, creative and generous people I met, so many perfumes to be smelled and beautiful plants along the way... I feel as if I haven't only traveled whatever miles it required from Vancouver to San Francisco to Oakland's Artemisia (who generously hosted me), Berkeley's botanical gardens and incense ceremonies, Ineke's studio (and flower garden!), and than back there again for a weekend full of the Artisan Fragrance Salon's events. And after all this, I even managed to squeeze in a day in Sonoma and visit Sonoma Scent Studio and Eden Botanicals. But if I start telling you now, I will never get any sleep.

Good night and see you all tomorrow :-)